California is home to nine national parks, each of which carries its own unique wonders. But they don’t all see the same traffic.
As pointed out recently by WorldAtlas in a list titled “The National Parks Most People Skip But Shouldn’t,” some parks regularly sit at the bottom of the rankings for annual visitors, “and the reason is rarely a shortage of scenery.”
Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California is one of those parks that draws a fraction of the crowds its more popular counterparts do, despite its wildflower-laden meadows and clear mountain lakes.
Oh, and did we mention that there are four different types of volcanoes?
The 106,000-acre park, which spans four California counties, is believed to have been volcanically active for around 3 million years, according to WorldAtlas. It’s home to boiling springs, fumaroles, mud pots, and Lassen Peak, considered the largest plug dome volcano in the world.
One of the cooler attractions is Bumpass Hell. Don’t be fooled by the hilarious but foreboding name It’s actually quite wondrous, as a boardwalk takes visitors through steaming vents and bubbling pools.
The federal government designated Lassen Volcanic a national park in 1916, a year after a massive eruption at Lassen Peak shot ash 30,000 feet in the sky.
“Today, it offers a rare combination of rugged volcanic drama and serene alpine beauty, where snow-capped summits coexist with steaming geothermal landscapes,” reads a WorldAtlas entry.
The WorldAtlas list blamed the low visitor numbers on snow that lingers well into summer, plus winter storms that close parts of the park. Location may also play a role.
The park sits about 50 miles east of Redding and roughly three hours from Sacramento and Reno, Nevada. But it’s well worth the drive into a corner of the state packed with lakes, national forests, and scenic routes.
READ MORE:
